The Little Things
by Sarah74656
Summary: It's the little things you do that make me fall... SamOther, SamJack
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I'm trying something new here; I've never written a flashback-type fic before! Needless to say, we're starting in the past, with something that might not make too much sense yet, but hopefully will do when I get a bit farther on! _

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* * *

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_It's the little things things you do that make me fall..._

* * *

Sam Carter was not, repeat, not, staring. Staring was something done by people who had a crush on the other person, which is most definitely not what applied to her. She was a strong minded, independant twenty-one year old, and strong minded, independant twenty-one year olds do not get crushes. And they certainly don't get them on their teachers. 

It wasn't her fault if her new seminar tutor for Applied Dynamics was rather good looking. And intelligent. And interesting. And possibly but not definitely a little bit interested in her.

That wasn't the point. Sam Carter was not the kind of girl to go crushing on authority figures. Much.

This was the third lesson of the fourth year of her stretch at the academy. Not long now before she reached that fabled PhD that would allow her to go and get the heck off this rock, not to mention out of this town, and finally do something... _worthwhile_ with her life.

The thought galvanised her, and she returned her eyes to the paper in front of her.

"No." she announced, confidently. It gave her satisfaction to see him turn around and raise his eyebrow at her, as if daring her to explain herself.

"No?" he said back, his voice level.

"No." She barely managed to keep the amused smile off her face, directly meeting his look. His eyes twinkled back at her, and try as she might she couldn't quite keep the rest of the room from falling away and just leaving the two of them there. Words like 'wrong', 'not allowed' and 'against regulations' were floating around her head, but damn them; she really didn't want to hear them right now. It wasn't like flirting was against the rules. Well, not very much against them anyway.

"I think you need to read that text again, Cadet." The connection broken, he looked up, beyond her, to the clock on the wall. "And you'll have plenty of time to do so, before our next meeting. Same time, same place. Be there or be square."

Sam exhaled a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. As the other students started moving around her, she snapped her book shut on a doodle that was beginning to look suspiciously like a heart with the words "Sam" and "Jon" in it, and stuffed her books into her bag in a hurry. She jogged to the front of the class where he was just collecting together his papers.

"You know I was right." The words might have sounded confrontational, but her face remained playful, her eyes dancing and a smile twitching at her lips.

"Maybe." He shrugged a shoulder at her, and picked up the pile from the desk. "But debate is so much more... _stimulating_ than answers, don't you think?"

He breezed past her, out of the door. She followed him out, then forced herself to go left down the corridor, to her next class, rather than right, the direction he had taken. Stopping at the last moment, she turned around, just in time to see him turn a corner.

She sighed. No, Sam Carter didn't have crushes. When she fell, she fell much harder than that.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Notes: Wow, people reviewed! That made me smile. Anyway, it's inspired me to write some more, so... all good. And for those of you wondering about the Jon-Jonathan-Jack connection, all I can say is yes, no, kind of. There's something, but it's not as obvious as all that. I'm into subtle at the moment... ;)_

* * *

Sam could hear the beeping of her alarm clock, but that didn't mean that she had to acknowledge it. Not just yet, anyway. Not until the last vestiges of her dream had fully slipped away, taking her from the blissfulness of sleep to the down-right annoyingness of being awake, and knowing that you're already late for work and you're not even out of bed yet. 

Scrunching her eyes up against the light streaming in through the slightly parted curtain, she snuggled down a little further into the duvet. The beeping continued, getting louder and louder until, one minute exactly after it started, it dropped into 'sleep' mode, not to go off again for another ten minutes.

The noise gone, Sam relaxed a little. You'd think that being on the front line and saving the world on a rather regular basis would be enough to earn a person a lie-in, but apparently not.

Sighing, she stretched and rubbed her eyes.

Time to face another day.

- - - - - - -

If it hadn't of been for the roadworks, and the traffic jam, and the kettle taking longer than usual to boil, she was sure that she would have made it in on time today. As it was, she was just a little late. Not bad enough to get people seriously worried, but bad enough to earn a raised eyebrow from one Jack O'Neill at their early morning briefing. Smothering the urge to bob her tongue out at the CO of Stargate Command, she settled for a winning smile and sat down in her chair.

Mentally she gave herself a whack around the head. She wasn't supposed to be flirting. It was unprofessional, and they knew it. And ok, so it didn't stop him raising his eyebrow at her, or her hand lingering a second longer on the coffee pot so that they grazed briefly past one another, or both of them holding eye contact a fraction of a second longer than normal. But none of that should stop her from trying, in principle at least, to keep up appearances. Especially when there were foriegn delegates around.

Jack looked at her with a wry grin and rolled his eyes as the delegates entered.

Sam felt her chest tighten just a little, and mentally sighed.

It was going to be a long morning.

----------------------------

_She'd tried to convince herself that it wasn't stalking. She'd just chosen to be reading her book here; it wasn't her fault if he'd chosen that moment to turn up downstairs and meet someone. _

_OK, so nobody had made her stand up and lean on the balcony railings and watch them. But that wasn't the point. _

_She was still holding the book, and though it was in front of her eyes and her eyes were moving, she had no idea what she'd just read. Three times she'd been over the same passage, but to no avail. _

_Sighing, she closed her eyes for a moment. It didn't help; the image of him standing down there was still imprinted on her consciousness. She opened her eyes and saw him bidding goodbye to the woman he was with. She tried desperately not to notice that it was a very platonic hug, or that he was heading for the escalator, coming up to her level. _

_Panicking slightly, she re-opened her book and sat back down. _

_'What I wouldn't give for a newspaper with eye-holes in', she thought, then immediately tried to chase the thought back out of her head. _

_Peering over the top of the book, he walked right past her, and down the corridor._

_'Jon...'_

_In a split second decision, she grabbed her bag and her umbrella and started to follow him. _

_'What on earth am I doing?' she thought, but it was no use now. She'd made her choice, now she had to live with it. _

_He walked out of the building on the upper level, seemingly oblivious to the rain which was pattering down from the dark, heavy clouds. Sam put up her umbrella and followed him, muttering to herself a repetitive chorus of 'what on earth am I doing?' as she went. _

_Looking out from underneath the umbrella, she watched as he entered the observatory._

_'Now what am I going to do? I can't follow him in there.' Frustrated with her own stupidity, she bit down on her lip. The slight pain refocussed her, and she kept walking, past the observatory and into the next building along. She grabbed a cup of coffee from the first vending machine she came to, and rested her umbrella up against the wall before collapsing onto the seat next to it. _

_'That was the most ridiculous thing I have done in my entire life.'_

_She drained the cup, the hot coffee burning her throat a little on the way down._

_Maybe she needed something a little stronger._


	3. Chapter 3

_Author Note: More reviews! Yay. Keep 'em coming. ;) I have two things to say here. Firstly, I actually have an idea of where this story is going now, you'll be pleased to hear. Also, this story lives in a Pete-free zone. Not because I hate the man, but because, well, he'll just get in the way. Sorry, Pete-fans. If there are any of you out there..._

* * *

Off-world wasn't any easier than on-world when it came to distracting her thoughts from Jack, but at least there she had something to look at; some sky to gaze on, some trees to avoid, some wet grass to tramp through. Here, in the briefing room, she had little to nothing but coffee and aliens who were, she had to admit, not exactly the most photogenic race that they'd ever encountered. Maybe, if you looked at it like that, she was saving herself by looking at Jack instead. 

She didn't even know why she was in this meeting in the first place. Diplomatic negotiations weren't her ball park. Still, the memo had come down from the top, and so here she was. Considering that Daniel was scheduled for a similar stint tomorrow, Sam had to wonder if this was just Jack's way of keeping himself sane, in meetings that would otherwise bore him to tears.

He'd been in office as Base Commander for about a year now, and he'd surprised a lot of people by how well he had managed to fill General Hammond's shoes. Sam reckoned he'd even surprised himself a bit, but it hadn't surprised her, or Daniel, or Teal'c. Beneath his rather gung-ho and happy-go-lucky exterior was clearly a brilliant man, and she knew it, even if he didn't.

One of the aliens sat down, and another stood up. Jack took the opportunity whilst all other eyes were on them to wink roguishly at Sam, who sighed again. He knew he wasn't supposed to encourage her. But then, that was probably why he did it.

It seemed like forever since they'd sat down to start the meeting, but a glance at her watch showed Sam she still had another hour before lunch.

'Great.'

* * *

_Sam found it hard to believe just how serious he was. Or, more accurately, how serious he wasn't. _

_To start with, she'd sat and watched him at the front of the class. She'd been endeared to the way he presented his arguments, and the way he read from texts, and the way he challenged someone who put forward an opinion of their own. Then, when he started to notice her, and started to direct comments to her, she started to see another side of him._

_The way a smile twitched on his lips as he acknowledged her point was accurate.  
The way his hand shook a little with nerves as he gathered his papers together to start the lesson.  
The way he caught her eye just a little more often than he caught anyone elses._

_She was torn between staying around at the end of the class and running away as fast as she could, because she wasn't sure quite what would happen if she did stay, and if she was ready for it._

_Mostly, she stayed, but she always kept the desk between the two of them. Just in case._

_She wasn't even sure exactly what she was scared of. She'd had boyfriends before. Maybe it was the slightly forbidden nature of the whole thing that made her a little nervy; but then she wasn't convinced that it wasn't also that which made it seem so attractive. _

_From the front of the class, Jon caught her eye. Whilst the others were unpacking their books, he winked at her, and she couldn't help but smile back._

* * *

Lunchtime. Finally. Sam couldn't believe how long the last hour had been. Now, at least, she could have a break from the mind-numbing tedium of alien squabbling. 

"Remind me again why I'm here?" she asked Jack, who was walking along beside here on their way to the commisary for some much-need food and refreshment. He smiled, innocently.

"Because you're hungry, I expect." Sam resisted the urge to hit him. He was still her commanding officer, after all.

"You know what I mean." she settled for, in an only slightly exasperated tone of voice. "There's no logical reason for me to be sitting in on this one." Jack's facial expression flickered a little, and Sam thought she detected a hint of a guilty frown for a moment.

"Which is why I am all the more grateful for you doing it." He smiled, almost hopefully at her, and Sam hadn't the heart to not return the smile.

"It's ok, you don't know how much you owe me, yet." she said, to which Jack only laughed.

* * *

_She wasn't sure what made today different. There had to be a reason why today, she'd decided to stay that extra twenty seconds, or he'd taken that little bit longer to tidy up his books. _

_Whatever it was, she was grateful for it. Probably._

_"Cadet Carter." She couldn't help but think that every time she heard his voice, there was another layer of feeling and affection in it. _

_"Sir." She wondered if he'd noticed something similar in her voice._

_"Your understanding of particle demolecularisation could use a little extra work. I wonder if you'd consider looking it over with me, perhaps now, if you're free? I'm sure we could include some food if you're feeling hungry." _

_She couldn't believe it. He was asking her to lunch. And... she had a class. _

_'Some deity, somewhere,' she thought, 'has a cruel sense of humour'._

_"I... I can't. I have a class. Sorry. Sir." _

_"I can give you notes. I'll find you a book, some papers, they'll tell you everything you need to know." The transformation in his attitude was unexpected and sudden. He wasn't... aloof, anymore. He wasn't her superior anymore. He was just a nervous man, asking the girl he'd fallen for out to lunch. And he **wanted** her to go. So much that it was palpable. _

_She didn't know what to do. She wanted to go. But her classes, her grades... they were important. She'd not skipped one class in the entire of her time at the Academy. She couldn't start now, could she?_

_"I really can't. I'm sorry." So much so. She looked up at him, her eyes begging him to understand how much she wished she could make another choice. _

_There was a moment, a split second, where he looked crushed, defeated. Then it was as if the whole thing had never happened, and he was back again, his previous self._

_"Another time, perhaps. Have a good class, Cadet."_

_Then he was gone, leaving her to just stand there and wonder what the hell just happened._


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: More reviews! Much thankies. :-) Now, a lot happens in this chapter... I thought about doing it in two chapters, but then I thought you'd prefer it in one, so, here you go... _

* * *

Lunch was starting to make up for the horrendous morning she'd had. 

It helped that Jack had stared down one of the newer recruits to secure her the last helping of blue Jello. It also helped that the commisary was fairly empty, and so they'd been able to get a table to themselves. Not that most people would have wanted to sit and eat lunch with the General anyway, it being a fairly stressful situation for most people to find themselves in, but it was nice none-the-less.

"So, how long did you give them for lunch break, then?" she asked, conversationally.

"Half an hour. And they're complaining about that; apparently Bovines don't eat lunch, and they'd rather just get on with it." Sam smiled inwardly.

"I'm sure that the Bodian representatives will be grateful for a break though." she said, subtly correcting his mistake. She doubted he'd notice, though. Or he'd pretend he didn't, at any rate. "I know I certainly am." This was definitely true.

"So you keep saying. Anyone would think you didn't want to be in my negotiations with me, Carter." She just smiled innocently back at him.

"Indeed." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me that." he said. "T does it worlds better. You just don't have the eyebrows for it." She supressed a giggle, which Jack seemed to notice, though he didn't comment. She knew what he would say, anyway. Their banter was old, and a little predictable, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable.

"We'd better head back then." she said, scraping the last of the jello from the glass. Jack pulled a face.

"Sure we can't just play hooky?"

Sam stood up from the table and grinned at him.

"No, sir."

* * *

_Her day had been going so well. She'd got up on time, she'd got full marks on her Theoretical Astronomy assignment, and it had even stopped raining. _

_Now this._

_She'd known that something was wrong from the moment she'd walked into the room. Jon was always there first, always. He had to have everything ready ten minutes early, just in case. And yet today, he wasn't there. _

_She could say that it hadn't hurt when the Colonel came in and told them that their teacher had recieved a promotion and been reassigned elsewhere. She could say that she hadn't felt a pit of despair open up in her chest, or tears prick behind her eyes. She could say that she smiled warmly at the new teacher the Colonel introduced to them as Jon's replacement; that she still looked forward to the rest of the term in these classes._

_She could, but she would fairly obviously be lying. _

_The new teacher, whose name Sam hadn't even registered, was talking. His words were washing over her like water, with nothing going in. All she could do was sit there and think about Jon; where he was now, what he was doing, if he was thinking of her. _

_The class lasted what felt like forever. When it ended, Sam gathered her belongings and headed for the door. _

_The rain had started up again, but she hardly noticed. The raindrops mixed themselves with the salty tears she felt washing down her face. They'd never had that lunch. They'd never had that chance. Maybe he'd known he would be leaving soon, and that's why he asked her? She felt so stupid for choosing a class over him. Her classes, her grades... they didn't seem to matter so much any more._

_After a few minutes, she wiped the tears from her face. She took a deep breath and headed for her next class, the one that had been so important to her just two weeks before. _

_She knew she'd never see him again. Now she just had to accept that, and get on with things. Nothing was going to stop her from getting the grades she wanted and getting out of here. There was still a world out there, waiting for her. She couldn't forget that. Something worth keeping going for. _

* * *

At least the coffee was fresh. That was one thing you could say about the SGC; they always had plenty of coffee on hand whenever they had alien visitors. Sam wasn't entirely sure why, since most aliens probably had never had coffee on their own planets. 

Maybe they were aiming to get them all addicted to caffiene, and thus bend them to accept their terms, regardless of how fair they were.

Sam shook her head and smiled at herself. Clearly, she'd been spending too much time around Jack.

Now back in the briefing room, Sam could feel all the sanity she'd regained in their half-hour lunch break rapidly slipping away from her. They'd even taken away the paper and pen from the desk in front of her. It was inhumane cruelty; how was she supposed to survive the afternoon without the ability to doodle?

The delegates still had not re-appeared, and Jack was clearly getting fidgety himself. When the phone rang, he jumped up, as if triumphant that he had grabbed the opportunity for distraction before she had. Sam just rolled her eyes. OK, maybe a little insubordinate, but there was no-one there to see.

"O'Neill. Yes. Yes, she's here." Sam perked up, and stopped pretending not to listen. There was no-one else there but herself and the General; he had to mean her. "OK. Yes, of course. Two minutes. Thank you so very much." He replaced the receiver with the look of a small child who has just been told he has to go to bed early without any pudding.

"Sir?" Sam couldn't help it; a small note of hope crept into her voice. If there was a chance that she was getting out of another three stimulating hours of negotiation...

"It appears that your talents are more readily required elsewhere, Carter." he said, still looking severely put-out. "Our new batch of _military scientists_ have arrived, and you need to brief them. Apparently." He pulled another face. "Level 20. You know the drill."

Sam felt sorry for leaving him, but at the same time couldn't wait to get away from the Bodians.

"Thank you, sir." she said, a model of politeness.

"You're welcome Carter. Now, get." She grinned at him.

"Yes sir." When she reached the door, she turned around. "Oh, and sir?"

"Carter?"

"Have a nice afternoon." She ducked out of the room before Jack had a chance to change his mind.

It wasn't far in the elevator to Level 20. Sam had to admit; briefing the scientists wasn't one of her favourite jobs on base, but as the un-official head of Scientific Operations, she understood why it fell to her to do it. At least this lot were supposed to be military scientists, like herself, as opposed to civilian scientists, like Felgar. Not that she had a problem with civilian scientists, of course, just that, well, they had a tendency to... fiddle with things. Press buttons, twiddle dials... the sort of annoying little habits that she'd got used to dealing with whenever Jack O'Neill visited her lab, but worse, because the scientists did it to 'improve' things.

Putting on her best 'Welcome to the Biggest and Best Kept Secret in the Known Worlds' smile, she rounded the corner. The airman escorting the new personnel turned to acknowledge her.

"Colonel." She nodded back.

"Airman."

"These are the new personnel." Two men and two women all nodded perfunctorily at her. "Captain William Fellows, Captain Lucy Everington, Major Kathryn Harris and-"

Sam had been following the introductions along the line, nodding at each as their names were announced. Suddenly, the smile slipped off her face. The airman's voice faded into a mass of white noise, and she felt the world spin a little underneath her. This man, this face; she hadn't seen in years. She hadn't thought she'd ever see him again.

'Jon'.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Notes: As if you haven't noticed already that this is a somewhat AU story, it's going to divert off a little more in this chapter. Not heinously so, but I thought I'd better warn you, just in case. :)_

* * *

'Jon'. 

"-and Major Jonathan Berkley." The airman's voice filtered through to her, and she mentally grabbed at it, pulling herself back together.

She forced the smile back on her face, determined not to lose concentration like that again.

"Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain." she managed, her voice sounding pleasingly level and neutral. " I'm Colonel Samantha Carter. I assume that you've already been briefed on the nature of this assigment. If you'd all follow me, I have a further briefing to give to you in the science labs." She nodded a combined thank-you and farewell to the airman, and started off down the corridor.

Her head was still reeling. She could almost feel him, two steps behind her. She'd thought she'd never see him again. She'd moved on, she'd gone on to do things she could never have possibly dreamed of. And yet, here he was. A Major, much less of a title than she'd expected he might have, in her base. Under her command, now. Talk about a role-reversal.

She wasn't even sure that he'd recognised her.

They turned another corner, almost at the lab that was her destination. She resolved to carry on as normal; this was just like any other day, any other induction. She wasn't going to let him put her off. This place was _her_ place, the job that she'd worked for and earned, and she was going to make sure he knew it.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, as they entered the lab and she turned around to face them. "The purpose of this introductory briefing is to ensure that you are all familiar with the day to day runnings her at Cheyenne Mountain, and to hand out your assignments."

Sam continued talking, finding it easier than she expected, with each sentence gaining a little more confidence to carry on.

* * *

"...and that brings our briefing pretty much to a close." 

Sam smiled at the assembled scientists. All four had nodded perfunctorarily in the appropriate places, and Sam found herself feeling a lot easier with the whole situation.

"You're all welcome to join me for lunch in the commisary, and ask any further questions which you may have."

With that, she led the group out into the corridor. Less than thirty seconds had elapsed before the quiet was broken by the noise of the voices of questions.

"Colonel?" It was the other Major who spoke.

"Yes, Major..." Sam glanced at her name patch before finishing the name. "Major Harris. How can I help?"

"Your off-world operations," Major Harris said. "We will be assigned an SG team immediately?"

Sam shook her head.

"As soon as the vacancies become available," she said. "Your assignment to an SG team will be the choice of the relevant team leaders." There was a silence, and Sam could guess what the question was that was hanging in the air. "And yes," she continued, answering the unasked question, "there is the possibility of a part-time assignment with SG-1." There was a different sort of silence now, one of excitement and anticipation. "But I must remind you, that all assingments will be made by the SG team leaders, and, in the case of SG-1 especially, will have to be approved by General O'Neill."

They reached the comissary just as she finished her speech. Her eyes swept the room, and she was surprised to see a familiar face sitting at a table in the corner.

"Help yourself to some food," she said, "and come and find me. I've already eaten."

The scientists needed little encouragement it seemed, and they headed straight for the food. Sam, on the other hand, headed straight for the corner.

"Sir?" she enquired as she approached the table. Jack looked up, and the slightly harried look on his face melted into a smile.

"Carter! Come to join me?" Sam frowned at him.

"I was under the impression that you weren't supposed to finish for..." She looked at her watch. "At least another two hours."

Jack just shrugged.

"Bovines don't like afternoons, either, it seems," he said. "So I suggested we all take a break." He spread his palms open wide, as if to suggest that giving himself the afternoon off from diplomasising was not at all his fault. "Where are your new scientists?"

As if on cue, the four walked over with trays towards the table.

"General, may I present Captains Fellows and Everington, and Majors Harris and Berkley." Her voice threatened to crack a little, having said his name, but she managed to hold firm. "This is General O'Neill, base commander." All four officers nodded politely and murmered carious greetings.

"It is an honour to be serving under you, sir." Sam couldn't help it; it was the first time since they'd met that Jon had really said anything more than a 'yes' or 'no', and she hated to admit that it affected her more than she had been expecting. His voice was still the rich, sonorous one he'd had in her youth, only now a little more mellowed with age. She blinked to try and rid herself of the memories, and forced a smile at Jack, who was replying with something in his usual sardonic manner. He shot a mirthful look in her direction, and her insides contorted further with this added complication. Oh, why weren't things ever simple?

Hastily, Sam made some excuse about leaving something in her lab and rose from the table. This was definitely a good time for a quiet minute or two, even if it was only one or two minutes. Jack and the others nodded their temporary farewells, and Sam forced herself not to run from the room, fearing that it might not give an exceptionally good impression. She paced back down the corridor quickly, and reached her lab in what she reckoned was some sort of record time. Once there, she shut the door behind her and leant on it.

Quiet at last.


End file.
